Army spokesman Col. Antonio Parlade Jr. sacked for calling an end to truce

The spokesperson of the Army has been sacked for suggesting that the government suspend its ceasefire agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Basilan.

Col. Antonio Parlade Jr., 46, was relieved of his post Friday night and replaced by his deputy, Maj. Harold Cabunoc, who has taken over in an acting capacity.

Contacted on Saturday by the Inquirer, Parlade was unbowed.

“Yes, it’s confirmed. [I] just did my job, said what I think was right,” he said in a statement sent by text message.

He said he harbored “no regrets” for not toeing the government line that the peace process be honored and no all-out war be waged against the MILF in the aftermath of the killing of 19 Army men in an encounter in Al Barka, Basilan, on Oct. 18.

Parlade, a 1987 graduate of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), claimed that his position to resume hostilities with the rebels in Basilan was shared by his peers and colleagues in the Army.

“I’m happy knowing our soldiers’ voice and sentiments were heard,” he said. “We are not politicians, we are soldiers. Professional soldiers.”

According to Senators Gregorio Honasan and Panfilo Lacson, both PMA graduates and former soldiers, the President was within his powers as commander in chief to sack Parlade.

But Sen. Francis Escudero, an ally of President Aquino, backed Parlade’s position that the ceasefire with the MILF should be suspended, at least in Basilan and other areas in Mindanao where soldiers had been attacked.

Cabunoc acknowledged that some Army members might share Parlade’s view, but stressed that this was not true of the entire organization.

“Of course, the prevailing sentiment [in the Army] is anger and sadness … There are officers who agree with him, and there are officers who don’t. If you ask one platoon, they will give different answers,” said Cabunoc, a member of PMA Class of 1994.

“But it’s not the position of the whole Army,” he said.

Cabunoc said he believed that Parlade was to be temporarily assigned to the Army headquarters support unit under Lt. Gen. Arturo Ortiz.

Asked to confirm reports that it was Mr. Aquino who ordered Parlade’s relief during the command conference at Camp Aguinaldo on Friday, Cabunoc said he did not know.

In a radio interview last week, Parlade said: “If you ask my opinion, it’s clear that we should pursue the MILF rebels and temporarily suspend the cessation of hostilities, specifically in Basilan.”